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Tiger Woods gets to the root of his problems

Hurt a lot of people ... Tiger Woods cheated on his wife Elin Nordegren. Photo: Reuters

In his first interview since a sex scandal shattered his image, golfer Tiger Woods says he "was living a lie" and "hurt a lot people" including his wife and family, ESPN reported on Sunday.

And it is clear from his first answer that he doesn't understand the Australian vernacular. Asked what the difference was between the man who left the Masters last year and the one who is about to return, Woods replied:

After treatment, going for inpatient treatment for 45 days and more outpatient treatment, I'm getting back to my old roots

"A lot has transpired in my life. A lot of ugly things have happened. Things that.....I've done some pretty bad things in my life. And uh, all came to a head. But now, after treatment, going for inpatient treatment for 45 days and more outpatient treatment, I'm getting back to my old roots."

Speaking in his first interview since a November car crash outside his Florida home, Woods said: "I was living a lie, I really was.

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"And I was doing a lot of things that hurt a lot of people.

"And stripping away denial and rationalisation you start coming to the truth of who you really are and that can be very ugly."

Woods announced his return at the Masters in April after four months of self-imposed exile. Shielded by the most secure environment in golf, it is still expected to be a circus-like atmosphere and unlike anything he has ever faced before.

He told ESPN.com he is starting to get his life back in order.

"When you face it and you start conquering it and you start living up to it, the strength that I feel now. I have never felt that type of strength," he said.

Woods has not played since winning the Australian Masters in mid-November after a sex scandal in which he admitted cheating on wife Elin, and apologised for igniting a tabloid frenzy where more than a dozen women have claimed affairs.

The world No.1 told ESPN he's a "little nervous" about the reception he'll get at Augusta.